The recreational fishing industry consists of enterprises such as the manufacture and retailing of fishing tackle and has become a multi-billion dollar industry. Whether an angler is a saltwater or freshwater aficionado (or both), he or she has a multitude of tackle and equipment options to chose from before venturing out in pursuit of his or her favorite quarry. This is particularly true when it comes to the bass fishing industry. Bass fishing is by far America's number one freshwater sport. Men, women, and children of all ages throughout the country can spend countless hours, not to mention dollars, fishing for this species of fish. Bass fishing popularity has grown exponentially over the years with the introduction of professional tournament circuits and their broadcast on national television networks. This growth in popularity has lead to a boom in the bass fishing industry as manufacturers continuously design and manufacture new baits to stay ahead of their competition. This is especially true in the area of soft plastic baits.
While plastic artificial baits have taken on many shapes and forms, including those resembling living creatures, by far such baits intended to simulate a worm or worm-like creature have been the most successful and longest lived. The original artificial worm was reportedly manufactured by Nick Crème in 1949. This was a standard straight tailed worm, but it spawned generations of worm companies and hundreds of soft plastic lure designs that are the mainstay of modern bass fishing.
Traditionally, such plastic worms are most often rigged to appear as if they are swimming or otherwise moving through the water in a straight line. However, in another age-old style or method of fishing that has taken on increasing popularity in recent years, the angler impales a single hook of some type, e.g., circle hook, through the center or middle portion of an elongated worm-like bait. The purpose of this, often referred to as “wacky worming”, is to give the bait a natural slow falling look or presentation in the water while also allowing its outer ends to droop and dangle or otherwise move about simulating the action of a live worm wiggling around on the end of a hook. This wacky-worm style of fishing mainly relies on the movement rather than the visual realisms to attract fish and, it also provides the angler with the ability to present a lure to certain types of heavy cover while remaining weedless.
One of the most popular soft plastic baits utilized for wacky-worming is a straight-bodied stick bait such as the Yamamoto Senko. Designed back in the early 1990s by Gary Yamamoto, this “do nothing” round-bodied, plastic worm-like bait contains a large amount of salt impregnated in the body of the bait that helps impart a slow, horizontal fall with a tantalizing side to side tail action.
As word of the effectiveness of wacky worming a straight-bodied stick bait for catching bass spread amongst the industry, competitors began making similar style baits with minor modifications.
Today an angler can purchase these stick baits with appendages contained on both ends of the stick bait for added vibration and fish attracting capabilities. For example, Big Bite Baits, Inc., Eufala, Ala., manufactures the “Thumpin Worm” which features a straight-bodied stick bait with a paddle on each end that allows for it to be fished several different ways. Rigged wacky-worm style the paddles on both ends create a wobble on the fall. Another similar bait, the K.O Assassin, manufactured by Bass Assassin Lures, Inc., Mayo Fla., features a ribbed, straight-bodied stick bait with serpent-shaped tails on both ends for providing additional vibration and fish attracting capabilities.
While the effectiveness of the plastic stick-bait for catching bass is well known and documented, current baits on the market are not without faults. Most often, these stick baits are manufactured utilizing very soft plastic materials to further provide a stick bait with tantalizing vibration and fish attracting capabilities. However, utilization of these very soft plastic materials also makes for a bait that tears easily, causing loss of the bait off the hook, lost fish and the need for an angler to own many packages of these baits just to make it through a day or season on the water, which ultimately costs an angler more money, both in potential tournament winnings from lost fish and from the need to purchase an abundance of baits.
One way the industry has attempted to solve this problem was with the development of plastic baits utilizing various elastomeric polymers that provide for greater stretch and tear-resistant capabilities. However, these elastomeric type baits generally cost more money and, therefore, do not necessarily solve the problem of reducing costs to an angler.